Finding Aid - Contains Digitized Material

Reference Request

* required
Please succinctly provide us with any information pertinent to your inquiry. If you are writing to us about a research request, provide as much detail as possible about the collections in which you are interested (including collection numbers, box numbers, and folder titles).
(if known)

The Smithsonian Institution Archives is using Constant Contact, a third-party contact management software vendor, to manage contacts and send eNewsletters. Please be advised that Constant Contact's Privacy Statement and Terms and Conditions apply to your use of these services. The Smithsonian Institution Archives has access to your name and email address which is subject to our privacy statement.

Finding Aids to Personal Papers and Special Collections in the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Record Unit 7256

Rathbun, Mary Jane, 1860-1943

Mary Jane Rathbun Papers, 1886-1938 and undated

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:Rathbun, Mary Jane, 1860-1943
Title:Mary Jane Rathbun Papers
Dates:1886-1938 and undated
Quantity:3.5 cu. ft. (7 document boxes)
Collection:Record Unit 7256
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

The papers of Mary Jane Rathbun document her career as a carcinologist and consist of correspondence, 1894-1938; manuscripts; research material; photographs; and an autobiographical memoir.

Historical Note

Mary Jane Rathbun (1860-1943) was born in Buffalo, New York. Educated in the public schools of Buffalo, she became interested in zoology through her brother Richard. A staff member of the United States Fish Commission (and later an assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution), Richard Rathbun introduced his sister to the Commission and its work at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. She worked for the Fish Commission, on a voluntary basis, during the summers from 1881 to 1884. In 1884, she was appointed to a salaried position as clerk with the Fish Commission, where she remained until 1886, when she joined the staff of the United States National Museum (USNM) as copyist in the Department of Marine Invertebrates. Rathbun was promoted to aid in 1893, second assistant curator in 1894, and assistant curator in 1907. She resigned in 1914 so that her salary could be used to hire another assistant curator. After her resignation, she was given the honorary title associate in zoology and continued her work on the invertebrate collections in the USNM. In 1916, Rathbun received an honorary M.A. degree from the University of Pittsburgh and the following year received an honorary doctorate from the George Washington University.

Rathbun's primary zoological interest was the study of crustacea, particularly the crabs, both recent and fossil. Her bibliography numbered 158 titles, with her most important works being four monographs on the grapsoid, spider, cancroid, and oxystomatous crabs of America, published as Bulletins of the United States National Museum between 1918 and 1939.

Top of Page

Descriptive Entry

The papers of Mary Jane Rathbun document her career as a carcinologist and consist of correspondence, 1894-1938; manuscripts; research material; photographs; and an autobiographical memoir.

Top of Page

Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7256, Mary Jane Rathbun Papers

Top of Page

Container List

Series 1

GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1894-1938. ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.

This series consists mostly of incoming correspondence of Mary Jane Rathbun, with smaller amounts of outgoing correspondence included. Correspondents include domestic and foreign invertebrate zoologists and United States National Museum administrators and staff. The correspondence documents Rathbun's research on crustacea and concerns the identification of specimens and the publication of scientific monographs. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by correspondent.

Box 1

A, general.

Box 1 of 7

Agassiz, Alexander, 1902-1909.

Box 1 of 7

Alcock, A., 1900, 1908.

Box 1 of 7

Andrews, Edmund A., 1897-1907.

Box 1 of 7

B, general.

Box 1 of 7

Balss, Heinrich, 1911-1927.

Box 1 of 7

Borradaile, Lancelot Alexander, 1902-1910, 1925.

Box 1 of 7

Bouvier, Eugene L., 1900-1907.

Box 1 of 7

C, general.

Box 1 of 7

Calman, William Thomas, 1898-1912.

Box 1 of 7

Clark, Austin H., 1909-1910.

Box 1 of 7

Clark, Hubert Lyman, 1907, 1928.

Box 1 of 7

Coutiere, Henri, 1900-1909.

Box 1 of 7

D, general.

Box 1 of 7

E, general.

Box 1 of 7

F, general.

Box 1 of 7

Faxon, Walter, 1894-1910.

Box 1 of 7

G, general.

Box 1 of 7

Gardiner, J. Stanley, 1910, 1926.

Box 1 of 7

Gravier, Charles Joseph, 1921-1927.

Box 1 of 7

H, general.

Box 1 of 7

Henshaw, Samuel, 1899-1910.

Box 1 of 7

I, general.

Box 1 of 7

Ihle, J. E. W., 1912-1932.

Box 1 of 7

J, general.

Box 1 of 7

K, general.

Box 1 of 7

Kemp, Stanley W., 1910, 1921.

Box 1 of 7

L, general.

Box 1 of 7

Lanchester, W. F., 1902-1908.

Box 1 of 7

Laurie, R. Douglas, 1916-1931.

Box 1 of 7

M, general

Box 1 of 7

Box 2

Man, Johannes Govertus de, 1898-1926.

Box 2 of 7

Maury, Carlotta Joaquina, 1923, 1926-1931, 1936.

Box 2 of 7

Moreira, Carlos, 1903-1906, 1920-1921.

Box 2 of 7

Mortensen, Theodor, 1909-1912.

Box 2 of 7

N, general.

Box 2 of 7

Nobili, Joseph, 1896-1906.

Box 2 of 7

O, general.

Box 2 of 7

Osburn, Raymond Carroll, 1906-1909.

Box 2 of 7

P, general.

Box 2 of 7

Porter, Carlos E., 1902-1910.

Box 2 of 7

R, general.

Box 2 of 7

Rathbun, Richard, 1898-1917.

Box 2 of 7

Ravenel, William deC., 1900, 1908-1910, 1922.

Box 2 of 7

S, general.

Box 2 of 7

Schmitt, Waldo LaSalle, 1910.

Box 2 of 7

Stebbing, Thomas R. R., 1891-1910.

Box 2 of 7

T, general.

Box 2 of 7

Urita, C. Tomoye, 1920-1938.

Box 2 of 7

V, general.

Box 2 of 7

Vaillant, Leon, 1904-1905.

Box 2 of 7

Verrill, Addison Emery, 1901, 1907-1908.

Box 2 of 7

W, general.

Box 2 of 7

Walcott, Charles D., 1896, 1908-1910, 1916.

Box 2 of 7

Wilson, Charles Branch, 1903-1905.

Box 2 of 7

Y-Z, general.

Box 2 of 7

Illegible signatures and unidentified correspondence.

Box 2 of 7

Series 2

MANUSCRIPTS, 1923-1937. ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY.

Box 2

"Decapod Crustaceans from the Upper Cretaceous of North Carolina." North Carolina Geological Survey, vol. 5., pp. 403-408, 1923.

Box 2 of 7

"Fossil Crabs from the Republic of Haiti." Proceedings of the USNM, vol. 63, no. 2477, 1923.

Box 2 of 7

"Brachyura from the 1921 Expedition of the California Academy of Sciences to the Gulf of California." Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, vol. 13, pp. 373-379, 1924.

Box 2 of 7

"Brachyuran Crabs from Australia and New Guinea." Record of the Australian Museum, vol. 15, pp. 177-182, 1926.

Box 2 of 7

"A new Crab from Costa Rica." Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, vol. 41, p. 69, 1928.

Box 2 of 7

"Two new Crabs from the Eocene of Texas." Proceedings of the USNM, vol. 73, no. 2727, 1928. Page Proof.

Box 2 of 7

"Decapoda." Canadian Atlantic Fauna, vol. 10, pp. 1-38, 1929.

Box 2 of 7

"A new Crab from the Eocene of Florida." Proceedings of the USNM, vol. 75, no. 2786, pp. 1-4, 1929.

Box 2 of 7

Box 3

"New Species of Fossil Decapod Crustaceans from California." Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol. 19, pp. 469-472, 1929.

Box 3 of 7

"A new Callianassa from the Cretaceous of South Dakota." Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol. 20, pp. 1-3, 1930.

Box 3 of 7

"Hoploparia Westoni Woodward." Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol. 20, pp. 180-183, 1930.

Box 3 of 7

"Fossil Decapod Crustaceans from Mexico." Proceedings of the USNM, vol. 78, no. 2851, pp. 1-10, 1930.

Box 3 of 7

"A new Fossil Palinurid from Staten Island." Proceedings of the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, vol. 5, 1931.

Box 3 of 7

"New Crabs from the Gulf of Mexico." Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol. 21, pp. 125-128, 1931.

Box 3 of 7

"Two new Crabs from the Gulf of Mexico." Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, vol. 44, pp. 71-72, 1931.

Box 3 of 7

"A new species of Pinnotherid Crab from Costa Rica." Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol. 21, p. 262, 1931.

Box 3 of 7

"New and Rare Chinese Crabs." Lingnan Science Journal, vol. 8, pp. 75-104, 1931.

Box 3 of 7

"New species of Fossil Raninidae from Oregon." Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol. 22, pp. 239-242, 1932.

Box 3 of 7

"Fossil Pinnotherids from the California Miocene." Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol. 22, pp. 411-413, 1932.

Box 3 of 7

"Preliminary descriptions of new species of Japanese Crabs." Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, vol. 45, pp. 29-38, 1932.

Box 3 of 7

"Descriptions of new species of Crabs from the Gulf of California." Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, vol. 46, pp. 147-149, 1933.

Box 3 of 7

"A new species of Pseudothelphusa from Mexico." Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol. 23, p. 360, 1933.

Box 3 of 7

"Preliminary descriptions of nine new species of Oxystomatous and allied Crabs." Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, vol. 46, pp. 183-186, 1933.

Box 3 of 7

"Brachyuran Crabs of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands." Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands, New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 15, pp. 1-121, 1933.

Box 3 of 7

"A new Crab of the Genus Cyclodorippe." Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol. 91, 1934.

Box 3 of 7

"A new Xanthid Crab from the Cretaceous of New Jersey." Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. 87, pp. 165-166, 1935.

Box 3 of 7

"Fossil Crustacea of the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain." Geological Society of America, Special Papers, no. 2, 1935. Page Proof.

Box 3 of 7

"Preliminary descriptions of seven new species of Oxystomatous and allied Crabs." Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, vol. 48, pp. l-4, 1935.

Box 3 of 7

"Preliminary descriptions of six new species of Crabs from the Pacific coast of America." Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, vol. 48, pp. 49-51, 1935.

Box 3 of 7

"Crustacea. Scientific results of an Expedition to Rain Forest Regions in Eastern Africa." Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, vol. 79, pp. 23-28, 1935.

Box 3 of 7

"Fossil Crabs from Panama and Colombia." Journal of Paleontology, vol. 11, pp. 26-28, 1937.

Box 3 of 7

"The Decapod Crustaceans of the Upper Cretaceous of Tennessee." Unpublished.

Box 3 of 7

"Brachyuran Crabs from the Dutch Islands on the Venezuelan Coast collected by P. Hummelinck." Unpublished.

Box 3 of 7

"Fossil Decapod Crustaceans of Fiji obtained by H. S. Ladd, 1926." Unpublished.

Box 3 of 7

"A new species of shrimp, Nephrops andersoni from the Tertiary of Trinidad." Unpublished.

Box 3 of 7

"A new Fossil Decapod Crustacean (Callianassa peruviana)." Unpublished.

Box 3 of 7

Series 3

FOSSIL CRUSTACEA RESEARCH FILE. ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.

This series consists of research material gathered by Mary Jane Rathbun concerning fossil crustacea. Included are notes; copies of papers and monographs; photographs; line drawings; and original pencil sketches by William Perry Hay. The material is arranged alphabetically by zoological classification and by region or locality.

Box 3

Fossil Crustacea. Families and genera.

Box 3 of 7

Actaea.

Box 3 of 7

Africa.

Box 3 of 7

Arachnida.

Box 3 of 7

Arcania.

Box 3 of 7

Archaeopus.

Box 3 of 7

Arenaeus.

Box 3 of 7

Arges.

Box 3 of 7

Asia.

Box 3 of 7

Astacidae.

Box 3 of 7

Astacus.

Box 3 of 7

Atergatis.

Box 3 of 7

Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain.

Box 3 of 7

Australia.

Box 3 of 7

Avitelmessus.

Box 3 of 7

Axius.

Box 3 of 7

Belgium.

Box 3 of 7

Binkhorstia.

Box 3 of 7

Brachyrhyncha.

Box 3 of 7

Branchiolambrus.

Box 3 of 7

Branchioplax.

Box 3 of 7

British Isles.

Box 3 of 7

Calappa.

Box 3 of 7

Calappella.

Box 3 of 7

Calappilia.

Box 3 of 7

Box 4

Callianassa.

Box 4 of 7

Callinectes.

Box 4 of 7

Caloxanthus.

Box 4 of 7

Campylostoma.

Box 4 of 7

Cancridae.

Box 4 of 7

Carcineretes.

Box 4 of 7

Carcinides.

Box 4 of 7

Cardisoma.

Box 4 of 7

Carpiliopsis.

Box 4 of 7

Carpilius.

Box 4 of 7

Chasmocarcinus.

Box 4 of 7

Chlinocephalus.

Box 4 of 7

Chloridella.

Box 4 of 7

Coeloma.

Box 4 of 7

Colpocaris.

Box 4 of 7

Cuba.

Box 4 of 7

Cyamocarcinus.

Box 4 of 7

Cycloxanthops.

Box 4 of 7

Dakoticancer.

Box 4 of 7

Dardanus.

Box 4 of 7

Dromia.

Box 4 of 7

Dromiidae.

Box 4 of 7

Dromilites.

Box 4 of 7

Dromiopsis.

Box 4 of 7

East Indies.

Box 4 of 7

Enoploclytia.

Box 4 of 7

Epiphia.

Box 4 of 7

Eryma.

Box 4 of 7

Etisus.

Box 4 of 7

Etyus.

Box 4 of 7

Eucrate.

Box 4 of 7

Eumorphocorystes.

Box 4 of 7

Euphylax.

Box 4 of 7

Euryalidae.

Box 4 of 7

Euryplax.

Box 4 of 7

Eurypterida.

Box 4 of 7

Figi.

Box 4 of 7

France and Central Europe.

Box 4 of 7

Galathea.

Box 4 of 7

Galene.

Box 4 of 7

Galenopsis.

Box 4 of 7

Gemmellocarcinus.

Box 4 of 7

Germany.

Box 4 of 7

Glyphea.

Box 4 of 7

Glyptonotus.

Box 4 of 7

Goneplax.

Box 4 of 7

Goniochele.

Box 4 of 7

Goniocypoda.

Box 4 of 7

Graptocarcinus.

Box 4 of 7

Haiti.

Box 4 of 7

Harpactocarcinus.

Box 4 of 7

Hemigrapsus.

Box 4 of 7

Hepatinulus.

Box 4 of 7

Hepatiscus.

Box 4 of 7

Hepatus.

Box 4 of 7

Heteractaea.

Box 4 of 7

Homarus.

Box 4 of 7

Homolidae.

Box 4 of 7

Homolopsis.

Box 4 of 7

Hoploparia.

Box 4 of 7

Italy.

Box 4 of 7

Leucosia.

Box 4 of 7

Leucosiidae.

Box 4 of 7

Box 5

Leucosilia.

Box 5 of 7

Libinia.

Box 5 of 7

Linuparus.

Box 5 of 7

Lithodidae.

Box 5 of 7

Lobocarcinus.

Box 5 of 7

Lobonotus.

Box 5 of 7

Lophopanopeus.

Box 5 of 7

Loxorhynchus.

Box 5 of 7

Lyreidus.

Box 5 of 7

Macrobrachium.

Box 5 of 7

Macrocheira.

Box 5 of 7

Macrophthalmus.

Box 5 of 7

Macrura.

Box 5 of 7

Martinocarcinus.

Box 5 of 7

Medaeus.

Box 5 of 7

Menippe.

Box 5 of 7

Mesorhoea.

Box 5 of 7

Meyeria.

Box 5 of 7

Montezumella.

Box 5 of 7

Munida.

Box 5 of 7

Mursia.

Box 5 of 7

Mursilia.

Box 5 of 7

Myra.

Box 5 of 7

Necrocarcinus.

Box 5 of 7

Necronectes.

Box 5 of 7

Necrozius.

Box 5 of 7

Nephrops.

Box 5 of 7

New Zealand.

Box 5 of 7

Notopocorystes.

Box 5 of 7

Notopoides.

Box 5 of 7

Notosceles.

Box 5 of 7

Nucia.

Box 5 of 7

Ocalina.

Box 5 of 7

Octopodichnus.

Box 5 of 7

Ommatocarcinus.

Box 5 of 7

Ophthalmoplax.

Box 5 of 7

Orithopsis.

Box 5 of 7

Pachycheles.

Box 5 of 7

Pacific Coast.

Box 5 of 7

Paguridae.

Box 5 of 7

Palaeastacus.

Box 5 of 7

Palaega.

Box 5 of 7

Palaeocarpilius.

Box 5 of 7

Palehomola.

Box 5 of 7

Palinuridae.

Box 5 of 7

Panama.

Box 5 of 7

Panopeus.

Box 5 of 7

Parapinnixa.

Box 5 of 7

Parthenope.

Box 5 of 7

Persephona.

Box 5 of 7

Peru.

Box 5 of 7

Petrolisthes.

Box 5 of 7

Phlyctenodes.

Box 5 of 7

Pilumnoplax.

Box 5 of 7

Pilumnus.

Box 5 of 7

Pinnixa.

Box 5 of 7

Plagiolophus.

Box 5 of 7

Box 6

Plagiophthalmus.

Box 6 of 7

Pleuroncodes.

Box 6 of 7

Podophthalmus.

Box 6 of 7

Podopilumnus.

Box 6 of 7

Portunites.

Box 6 of 7

Portunus.

Box 6 of 7

Prehepatus.

Box 6 of 7

Prosopon.

Box 6 of 7

Pseudastacus.

Box 6 of 7

Pseudosquilla.

Box 6 of 7

Pyromaia.

Box 6 of 7

Randallia.

Box 6 of 7

Ranidina.

Box 6 of 7

Ranina.

Box 6 of 7

Raninella. Includes original sketch by William Perry Hay.

Box 6 of 7

Raninellopsis.

Box 6 of 7

Raninidae.

Box 6 of 7

Raninoides. Includes original sketch by William Perry Hay.

Box 6 of 7

Reussia.

Box 6 of 7

Sandomingia.

Box 6 of 7

Scandinavia.

Box 6 of 7

Scylla.

Box 6 of 7

Scyllarella. Includes original sketches by William Perry Hay.

Box 6 of 7

Siam.

Box 6 of 7

Stomatopoda.

Box 6 of 7

Symethis. Includes original sketch by William Perry Hay.

Box 6 of 7

Syphax.

Box 6 of 7

Thaumastoplax.

Box 6 of 7

Thelecarcinus.

Box 6 of 7

Titanocarcinus.

Box 6 of 7

Tribolocephalus.

Box 6 of 7

Trilobita.

Box 6 of 7

Trinidad.

Box 6 of 7

Typilobus.

Box 6 of 7

Uca.

Box 6 of 7

Upogebia.

Box 6 of 7

Xanthias.

Box 6 of 7

Xanthidae.

Box 6 of 7

Xanthilites. Includes original sketch by William Perry Hay.

Box 6 of 7

Xantho.

Box 6 of 7

Xanthosia.

Box 6 of 7

Zanthopsis

Box 6 of 7

Photographs of fossil crustacea. (3 folders)

Box 6 of 7

Series 4

PHOTOGRAPHS, 1886, AND UNDATED.

This series consists mostly of photographs of crustacea specimens. Also included are three photographs taken at the United States Fish Commission laboratories at Wood's Hole, Massachusetts, in 1886.

Box 6

Miscellaneous photographs of crustacea.

Box 6 of 7

Box 7

Miscellaneous photographs of crustacea. (6 folders)

Box 7 of 7

Photographs of the United States Fish Commission laboratories at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 1886. Includes a photograph of Mary Jane Rathbun with Katherine Jeannette Bush, Charlotte Bush, and Eloise Edwards.

Box 7 of 7

Series 5

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR, UNDATED.

This series consists of a partial, handwritten memoir by Mary Jane Rathbun. Included are reflections on her childhood years, her early career at the Smithsonian Institution, and her residence in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Box 7

Autobiographical memoir by Mary Jane Rathbun, undated.

Box 7 of 7

Series 6

AWARDS AND DIPLOMAS.
Oversize

Awards and Diplomas

Oversize